George Gore

George F. Gore
(Piano Legs)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 195 lb.

• Debut May 1, 1879
• Final Game August 18, 1892
• Born May 3, 1854 in Saccarappa, ME USA
• Died September 16, 1933 in Utica, NY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Gore's "first venture in professional baseball netted him $10 a week plus board"

Centerfielder George "Piano Legs" Gore played fourteen years in the majors, leading the league in 1880 in batting, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. He was among the league leaders in on-base percentage ten different times.

In 1884, he burst past the previous record for walks in a season, 37, and set a new National League record with 61 (Candy Nelson, in the American Association, set a record with 74 that same year). After teammate Ned Williamson drew 75 walks in 1885, Gore blew past that and set a new major league record for walks with 102 in 1886. It then became common for the league leader to have at least 100 walks.

Gore's obituary in the New York Times indicates that he started his professional career in Fall River, MA, at one time a hotbed of baseball, and earned $1,900 for his first major league season. He was listed as a resident of New York, NY in a 1907 newspaper article, see [1], having worked for the city in various positions.

At the time of his death, he was the only outfielder to get five assists in one game. He also had a share of two other records - stealing seven bases in one game and getting five extra-base hits in one game. That last record was set while he played for the Chicago White Stockings, the ancestors of today's Chicago Cubs, on July 9, 1885; the next Cubs player to collect five extra-base hits in a game would be Kris Bryant, in 2016.

Gore is the only major leaguer born in Saccarappa, ME, which became part of Westbrook, ME, a suburb of Portland, ME.

Notable Achievements

• NL Batting Average Leader (1880)
• NL On-Base Percentage Leader (1880)
• NL Slugging Percentage Leader (1880)
• NL OPS Leader (1880)
• 2-time NL Runs Scored Leader (1881 & 1882)
• 3-time NL Bases on Balls Leader (1882, 1884 & 1886)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 7 (1883-1886 & 1889-1891)

Preceded by Jack Crooks

St. Louis Browns Manager 1892

Succeeded by Bob Caruthers

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Playoffs	Notes
1892	St. Louis Browns	National League	6-9	--		replaced Jack Glasscock (1-3), Cub Stricker (6-17) and Jack Crooks (27-33) on August 1 / replaced by Bob Caruthers on August 20

Related Sites

• George Gore at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Manager page